Craven residents react to the State of the Union

Published: Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 07:50 PM.

Craven County reactions to national needs highlighted in President Barack Obama’s first second-term State of the Union address ranged from “pie in the sky” to “possible.”

The personal politics of those commenting figured into reactions but some sentiments transcended party lines.

Capturing that for most speaking Wednesday, Democrat Larry Norville of Fairfield Harbour said, “We have a real serious financial crisis in this country that we as citizens are going to have to be prepared for and cope with. The president talked about tax reform and entitlements and said he recognized, as most of us do, that those things have to be addressed. Everybody is going to have to give up a little bit.”

Craven County Republican Party Chairman Chuck Tyson listened to the lengthy address with pauses for applause often following the president’s most often used phrase “We can get it done,” and said what he heard was “another political campaign speech and did not address the problems this country is facing.”

“I obviously didn’t disagree with 100 percent of the president’s speech,” Tyson said. “There were some items that probably had some merit but, by and large, it was a political stump speech tested by political advisors and had no real effort to get control of budget.”

Craven County Democratic Party Chairman Rachel Parnell, however, said “I listened carefully and think all of the things the president said are needed and have been needed for some time and we just can’t wait any longer. I am in support of him, wishing him success in getting much of this accomplished in his second term.”

Paul Hills, Craven County Republican Men’s Club president said, “I wasn’t surprised. I expected to hear him say what he said. But I thought it was kind of a pie in the sky presentation. It had very little reality involved in it.”

Craven County reactions to national needs highlighted in President Barack Obama’s first second-term State of the Union address ranged from “pie in the sky” to “possible.”

The personal politics of those commenting figured into reactions but some sentiments transcended party lines.

Capturing that for most speaking Wednesday, Democrat Larry Norville of Fairfield Harbour said, “We have a real serious financial crisis in this country that we as citizens are going to have to be prepared for and cope with. The president talked about tax reform and entitlements and said he recognized, as most of us do, that those things have to be addressed. Everybody is going to have to give up a little bit.”

Craven County Republican Party Chairman Chuck Tyson listened to the lengthy address with pauses for applause often following the president’s most often used phrase “We can get it done,” and said what he heard was “another political campaign speech and did not address the problems this country is facing.”

“I obviously didn’t disagree with 100 percent of the president’s speech,” Tyson said. “There were some items that probably had some merit but, by and large, it was a political stump speech tested by political advisors and had no real effort to get control of budget.”

Craven County Democratic Party Chairman Rachel Parnell, however, said “I listened carefully and think all of the things the president said are needed and have been needed for some time and we just can’t wait any longer. I am in support of him, wishing him success in getting much of this accomplished in his second term.”

Paul Hills, Craven County Republican Men’s Club president said, “I wasn’t surprised. I expected to hear him say what he said. But I thought it was kind of a pie in the sky presentation. It had very little reality involved in it.”

Conversely, retired military officer and former human resources executive Norville, said,“I thought the address was well done. One of the things he touched on that really feels positive was about education and that affects the children of America regardless of party. It tried to take a pretty balanced view of some of the things both the Republicans and Democrats think are important to address — from minimum wage to protecting the U.S.”

Craven County Democratic Women Secretary Tonya Roberts agreed and said, “I have written to my representatives that middle class Americans are becoming a thing of past. I feel like he did focus on middle class Americans.”

The president brought that message more strongly to North Carolina Wednesday, reiterating in Asheville Wednesday his call for a minimum wage increase from $7.25 to $9 an hour. Speaking at the reopening of a former Volvo parts plant there, he also launched a public dialog on rejuvenating American manufacturing as key to reviving the economy and bringing more jobs with a decent living wage.

But Tyson said, “Nobody wants somebody to have to work for less than it takes to live but for every time minimum wage was ever raised you can prove it costs lower echelon workers jobs. So does it help them? No. In the final analysis it hurts them but it sounds good and spews political correctness.”

“Every time I think government is so big it can’t get any bigger, President Obama wants to grow it and make it bigger,” Tyson said. “His speech said nothing about dealing with outrageous deficits and entitlements that must be dealt with before the entire economy implodes.”

Hills said, “It particularly struck me that he is going to go out and spend more stimulus money. I concur that manufacturing is something with issues but those kinds of things he was talking about would have very little effect. It’s one of those things where the devil is in the details and federal government isn’t in details of relocating manufacturing.”

“Many of the things that the president indicated didn’t cost anything, do cost, and that the money doesn’t magically appear,” Hills said. “Many of the things have already been in front of congress before and after the Republicans took charge and didn’t pass.”

Those topics dealing with gun violence and resolving problems in the schools and homes is something the two political parties have not agreed on, but Roberts said she thinks they have a better chance with bipartisan support right now: “(Obama) stressed we need to work together.”

“I’m definitely in support of our president and feel that the only way we can get our country on track is to put aside petty disagreements and realize they were elected to represent the people who elected him,” Roberts said. “They are not doing any of us any favors by their posturing.”

Tyson said, “I hope congress can come together with some bipartisan solutions but it’s going to take some leadership and I didn’t see it last night.”

Sue Book can be reached at 252-635-5665 or sue.book@newbernsj.com. Follow her on Twitter@SueJBook.